The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

400 RUSSIA IN EUROPE.kingdom, on the Volga, below its junction with the Kama. Here the Arabs, Persians,Armenians, and even Indians traded in the ninth century with the Western nations.The destruction of the Bulgarian Empire caused the site to he shifted to Kazan,residence of the Tatar Khans, and the Kazan Tatar hawkers are still known bythe name of Bukhartzi, or " Bokhariots." The fall of this dynasty caused a thirdchange, and early in the seventeenth century the tide of traffic began to follow thecountless pilgrims yearly visiting 'the miraculous shrine of St. Macarius, on theleft bank of the Volga, about 50 miles below Nijni-Xovgorod. Until the timeof Peter the Great all the charges for booths and the octroi dues belonged to theconvent and its archimandrite. Still the site of the great fair, far removed fromthe large towns, and situated on a sandy soil where the waggons sank into theground, was so inconvenient that advantage was taken of the destructive fire of1816 to remove ittoNijni, conveniently situated at the Volga and Oka confluence,Fie. 210.—Commercial Development of the Nijni-Novgorod Faiu fkom 1S17 to ISTfi.Upper Curve, Gro^s Importand at the junction of the eastern trading routes. Here is now the advanced postof the "Western world towards the Asiatic peoples.The name of Nijni-Novgorod, or " Lower Newtown," is attributed to theprevious existence of two separate quarters, the lower of which ultimately gaveits name to the whole. Its culminating point is 320 feet above the level of theVolga, and the Kremlin walls enclose an eminence from which are visible on thewest the junction of the two rivers, and on the left bank of the Oka the actualsite of the fair, with its regular buildings and thoroughfares ascending throughravines towards the slopes of the plateau. A portion of the Kremlin is laid outin gardens, while farther east the avenues of a park extend along the high cliffsof the Volga. The main stream is still unprovided with a bridge, and the Oka iscrossed only by a bridge of boats 1,503 yards long, which is removed everywinter.